WIESENTHAL CENTER PRAISES ACQUISITION OF MENGELE’S DIARY

February 4, 2010

WIESENTHAL CENTER PRAISES ACQUISITION OF MENGELE’S DIARY BY  FAMILY PLEDGED TO KEEP IT SAFE IN JEWISH HANDS

  “At a time when Ahmadinejad’s Iran regularly denies the Holocaust and anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews is back in vogue, this acquisition is especially significant," said  Rabbi Marvin Hier
 
The Simon Wiesenthal Center said today that the anonymous acquisition of the Mengele diary, written by Auschwitz’s infamous ‘Angel of Death,’ Dr. Josef Mengele, who was personally responsible for sending hundreds of thousands of people to the gas chambers and for conducting horrific experiments on women and children, is an important contribution to preserving the memory of the Holocaust.            

 “I spoke to the family that acquired the diary this morning and learned that more than 100 of their close relatives were murdered in the concentration camps, including dozens who saw Dr. Josef Mengele in action at Auschwitz,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  “They want the world to know that their only motivation in acquiring the diary was to ensure that it remains in Jewish hands to serve as an integral part of the education of future generations about the infamy of history’s greatest crime.”
           
“At a time when Ahmadinejad’s Iran regularly denies the Holocaust and anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews is back in vogue, this acquisition is especially significant,” Hier concluded.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

For more information, please contact the Center's Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter,  or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

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